Soiefer Realty is the true definition of a family business—one that has evolved alongside the lives of the family that founded, and still owns and manages, the business today.

Like so many immigrants, George Soiefer left Eastern Europe seeking a better life. He and his older brother, Sam, orphaned from a young age, made their way to New York. Each set up their own dairy farm, in the now heavily residential area of Ozone Park in Queens, New York. That dairy business grew and over time, George found he needed more space. More than just barns for housing cows and horses or storing hay, George required a building for the latest milk bottling machinery and garage space for maintaining his growing fleet of delivery trucks.

When New York City began selling off open land in East New York, near the Belt Parkway, George was at the public auction ready to bid. He and Beatrice—his wife and trusty bookkeeper —were the first to buy and build on lots that included 457/473 Wortman Avenue and 975 Georgia Avenue. In 1960, after graduating Syracuse University and then two years as an Officer in the US Army, George and Beatrice's son-in-law, Steve Leffler, joined the family business. He took those original buildings that George had built—and used them as the foundation for growing a thriving commercial real estate concern. While adding to their industrial buildings in the Spring Creek/East New York area, Steve and his wife, Carolann, also purchased office buildings on the North and South shores of Long Island.

In 2008, Steve's daughter Sheri Leffler Warshaw became the third generation to join the family business. A University of Pennsylvania grad, Sheri has brought a contemporary point of view to the company, shepherding it into its next iteration. "It is a joy to work and learn alongside my father and carry on the family business tradition into the future.”

As Soiefer Realty moves into its next phase, one that sees its new and exciting opportunities tied to Last Mile delivery and the need for delivery businesses to be positioned ever closer to both New York City and John F. Kennedy Airport, Sheri is excited to work with tenants to recreate the kind of space that will work for them in this ever changing, fast moving new economy.